Method of manufacturing flexible display device

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a flexible display device includes forming a buffer layer on a base substrate, wherein the buffer layer is transparent and has a optical bandgap of about 3.0 eV to about 4.0 eV; forming a flexible substrate on the buffer layer; forming display elements on the flexible substrate; and irradiating a laser to the buffer layer to detach the flexible substrate from the base substrate.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of manufacturing a flexible display device, the method comprising:
 forming a buffer layer on a base substrate, wherein the buffer layer is transparent and has an optical bandgap of about 3.0 eV to about 4.0 eV; 
 forming a flexible substrate on the buffer layer; 
 forming display elements on the flexible substrate; 
 forming a seal pattern between the flexible substrate and another flexible substrate opposing to the flexible substrate; 
 hardening the seal pattern using an ultra-violet (UV) ray, while simultaneously injecting a liquid crystal layer between the flexible substrate and the another flexible substrate; and 
 to ablating the buffer layer by a laser to completely remove the buffer layer from the flexible substrate and to detach the flexible substrate from the base substrate. 
 
     
     
       2. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the buffer layer comprises zinc oxide or stannic oxide. 
     
     
       3. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the laser is an infra-red (IR) laser having a wavelength of about 710 nanometers to about 1550 nanometers. 
     
     
       4. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein forming the flexible substrate includes:
 forming a high molecular weight polymer layer on the buffer layer; and 
 hardening the high molecular weight polymer layer to form the flexible substrate. 
 
     
     
       5. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising forming another buffer layer on the flexible substrate before forming the display elements, wherein the another buffer layer is made of an inorganic insulating material. 
     
     
       6. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the laser is irradiated from a surface of the base substrate opposite to a surface of the base substrate on which the buffer layer is formed. 
     
     
       7. The method according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the laser is irradiated to the buffer layer after hardening the seal pattern. 
 
     
     
       8. The method according to  claim 7 , wherein the ultra-violet ray is irradiated from a surface of the base substrate opposite to a surface of the base substrate on which the buffer layer is formed. 
     
     
       9. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the flexible substrate has a thickness of about 50 micrometers to about 300 micrometers. 
     
     
       10. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the buffer layer has a thickness of about 300 angstroms to about 5000 angstroms. 
     
     
       11. The method according to  claim 4 , wherein the high molecular weight polymer layer is hardened at a temperature of about 150 degrees Celsius to about 300 degrees Celsius in a time of about 20 minutes to about 120 minutes.